With temperatures in the mid-80s, many residents had the chance to cool off with fresh, filtered water at the Waterbar in West Hempstead during their ribbon-cutting ceremony on June 30.

“It was full of energy, a lot of people were in and out, and it was a good day to hydrate,” said co-founder Rachel Hollywood. “What we’re trying to do is promote a healthy lifestyle and create a business where people can talk and hang out.”

Hollywood, who described the Waterbar as a bar with healthy benefits, said that the founding members created this business to bring more awareness to the importance drinking clean, filtered water. Their store features both alkaline and hydrogen water and Hollywood explained that they each can help people with health issues.

“It’s really unbelievable what this water can do for you,” Hollywood said. “Water is our life. We can’t survive without it. If this is the main ingredient we need to live, it’s really our responsibility to find a healthy water source.”

Hollywood said that the Waterbar plans to host different workshops throughout the year that include making your own body and bath products, and learning how to make your own healthy drinks. In addition, each of the founding members have worked in bars and restaurants, and the group will have ‘happy hours’ to feature healthy fruit and vegetable drink mixes. “We want to help people while creating a sense of community,” she said.

The group has received a lot of positive feedback, Hollywood said, and that residents have already reached out to find ways of getting involved.

“This shows that there’s a definite need for it and people are willing to take responsibility and get a grip on their health and improve themselves,” she said. “We, as humans, have to try to be better each day and there’s no better day than today to start.”

For more information on the Waterbar, go to www.waterbarnewyork.com, and follow the group on their Instagram, @waterbarnewyork and Facebook, @waterbarny.